Shortly into the movie Arbitrage, the new 1% thriller written and directed by Nicholas Jarecki, I began to wonder whether I stumbled into the wrong theater.\u00a0 According to the previews; reports from friends; reviews; etc., I was expecting a story about a semi-sociopathic financier, a Bernie Madoff type, who would do anything and betray anyone to survive (including his virtuous and untainted daughter), and who was about to pull off a deal that would destroy everyone but himself, but who is temporarily derailed when he causes a Ted Kennedy Chappaquiddick type accident that results in the death of his mistress via manslaughter.\u00a0 He is then pursued by two righteous police officers and a D.A. who are tired of the wealthy getting away with murder.<\/p>\n
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That is not the movie I saw.<\/p>\n
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Instead, I saw a film about a financier noble in heart, though weak in action, who desperately, and by, yes, illegal methods, is trying to save his company before it goes belly up, costing him not just everything he has, but also the savings and money of all his investors and the jobs of all those who work for him (including his daughter).\u00a0 After a horrifying accident not caused by manslaughter (unless I\u2019m simply unaware of the intricate parsings of said term\u2014and I very well might be), but by the character falling asleep at the wheel, his greatest crime is leaving the scene of an accident.\u00a0 He is then pursued by a sociopathic officer who seems to have some sort of personal vendetta against the wealthy man (though none is every revealed), to such an extent that he willfully manufactures evidence and gets the DA to lie to a grand jury in order to convict the financier for something he didn\u2019t to (our taxpayer dollars at work, I guess).<\/p>\n
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Okay, po-tay-to, po-tah-to.\u00a0 But you can see where I\u2019m coming from.<\/p>\n
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In the end, though, even looking at the movie from my point of view, Arbitrage is not much more than an entertaining enough thriller that gets the job done.\u00a0 It\u2019s not quite a roller coaster ride, but it\u2019s not boring.\u00a0 Just a bit of a let down.<\/p>\n
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The cast is headed by Richard Gere as Robert Miller, the non Bernie Madoff\/non-Ted Kennedy, Bernie Madoff\/Ted Kennedy role.\u00a0 Gere\u2019s charming, though I think he\u2019s been better in recent years.\u00a0 But he has one great scene where his character finally traps the illusive Mayfield, the businessman who keeps putting of buying Miller\u2019s business, and Miller shows the brass balls that made him what he is.\u00a0 He out bluffs said Mayfield and finally gets a deal that saves anyone and everyone.<\/p>\n
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There are some nice faces in the supporting roles, like Stuart Margolis as Syd Felder, Miller\u2019s lawyer who gives Miller (what seems to be to me) questionable legal advice; and Chris Eigeman as Miller\u2019s almost Zen like business manager.\u00a0 Both are welcome sights.<\/p>\n
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As for the rest, Tim Roth plays his \u201crighteous\u201d officer role rather broadly, in the way that actors often do if they don\u2019t find their characters inherently interesting (probably a good choice here since his role isn\u2019t particularly interesting).\u00a0 Susan Sarandon is around to pick up a paycheck. \u00a0\u00a0And the extras are filled out with some of the tallest Amazonian secretaries I\u2019ve ever seen, which may suggest something about Jarecki and\/or the casting director that I\u2019d rather not know.<\/p>\n
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Perhaps the two characters that are written the most puzzling are Brooke, Miller\u2019s daughter (played by Brit Marling) and his surprisingly dowdy mistress Reina (played by Monica Raymund).\u00a0 Both are just a bit too incredibly na\u00efve for me to have any empathy for.<\/p>\n
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Brooke is suppose to be this alpha female financier, but in all the years she\u2019s been in the business, has yet to grasp the concept of imperfection in her parents.\u00a0 She\u2019s shocked, shocked (in the best Captain Renault manner) that her father is involved in some shady dealings.\u00a0 Really? I mean\u2026Really?\u00a0 When Sarandon talks about it, she acts like Brooke just lost her virginity when her daughter\u2019s at least thirty years old, for God\u2019s sake.\u00a0 (It reminded me of the reaction from all these men about what happened between Monica Lewinsky and Clinton\u2014an \u201chow dare you with my daughter\u201d type response that only made me think: \u201cyou do realize she is over twenty one, right?\u00a0 Just how long were you planning on protecting her virginity, anyway?\u201d)<\/p>\n
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Reina, meanwhile, spends most of her time pouting because she\u2019s not the center of her patron\u2019s universe and is just now realizing that her lover is not going to leave his wife.\u00a0 Again, really?\u00a0 I mean\u2026Really?\u00a0 She also seems incredibly ungrateful that Miller pays for her luxurious apartment that no artist could ever hope to afford in New York; arranges shows for her; and buys her paintings.\u00a0 At one point, Miller tells his daughter, \u201cYou\u2019re not my partner, you\u2019re my employee.\u201d\u00a0 I felt that this line would be much more appropriately delivered to Reina.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shortly into the movie Arbitrage, the new 1% thriller written and directed by Nicholas Jarecki, I began to wonder whether I stumbled into the wrong theater.\u00a0 According to the previews; reports from friends; reviews; etc., I was expecting a story about a semi-sociopathic financier, a Bernie Madoff type, who would do anything and betray anyone […]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[34,40,38,41,35,36,37,39],"series":[],"class_list":["post-1004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-arbitrage","tag-brit-marling","tag-chris-eigeman","tag-monica-raymund","tag-nicholas-jarecki","tag-richard-gere","tag-stuart-margolis","tag-tim-roth"],"episode_featured_image":false,"episode_player_image":"https:\/\/www.rumblespoon.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/REAL-Short-Box-New-Logo-FINAL-scaled.jpg","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"amazon":{"key":"amazon","url":"","label":"Amazon","class":"amazon","icon":"amazon.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/www.rumblespoon.com\/wp\/feed\/podcast\/the-real-short-box","embedCode":"
Review of Movie ARBITRAGE by Howard Casner<\/a><\/blockquote>